after rome
by antarcticas
Summary: "a civilization built on bloodshed that conquered land but not hearts." —jason


**for the querencia quarter quell round three:**

 **prompts;**

 **persephone [rebirth: goddess of spring to queen of the dead]**

 **apollo [the sun: driving his chariot to bring light]**

 **mercury [railroads: travelling, going from one place to another]**

 **trivia [crossroads: making choices is magic]**

 **jupiter [lightning: king of olympus and the heavens]**

 **Wc: 1k+ something**

* * *

 **i. crossroads**

Facts: Jason Grace is sixteen. His father is Jupiter, King of the Heavens. His mother was Beryl Grace, drunk movie star. His sister is Thalia Grace. She is a Hunter of Artemis. He is the former praetor of the Twelfth Legion.

His father's name is Jupiter but it is also Zeus, and his sister is Greek and he is Roman. He is Roman. He is Roman. _Twelfth Legion Fulminata._ Raised by Lupa. _Hail Caesar._ Ruler of his people. _Senātus Populusque Rōmānus._

His blood is Roman and his language is Latin and his history is Caesar and Augustus, conquest, gold.

His soul is not Roman. His girl is not Roman. His heart does not calm at the sight of the Senate. It relaxes at the Big House at Camp Half-Blood, at the fields and forest. At how there are no brigades, no guards, no anger — but the people are still peaceful, still happy.

Jason Grace does not like war and that is what New Rome is. That is what Rome is. A civilization built on bloodshed that conquered land but not hearts. Jason has fought in too many wars, spilled too much blood, left behind too many corpses.

He is done.

 _You cannot deny your past. Son of Rome, son of Caesar, son of Jupiter. Prince of the Sky. This is your inheritance._

He is ready to choose his path and it is not the past.

 _Traitor! You are the Prince of these people, you are leaving behind these people, you will kill your people!_

* * *

 **ii. the sun**

The sun is his. The moon is his. The sky is his. All a part of the heavens, all something he might not be able to reach but still has. _Birthright, your birthright. Let them bow to you._

Thalia is scared of heights and the sky. Scared of her past and her future. He is not, he swears he is not — he accepts everything for what it is. He accepts the lightning floating from his fingertips and the electricity crackling through the air and the feeling of power that overtakes him when he is flying through the cosmos. He accepts it and he wants it but he does not know how he covets it. Through Greece or Rome, through New York or San Francisco, through organized orders or organized chaos. He wants to be a hero, he is a hero, he knows that he is a hero. But of where and why is unknown to him.

The sun shines like a lie. Dimming at night to create something new, to give way to Artemis, to change its identity. He too would like to change his identity, to go smoothly from one place to another. But oh, no.

He and his sister are no Apollo and Artemis, no up and down, no anger and peace. They coexist in a mess of everything and he cannot triumph over the internal struggle no matter how hard he tries. And is he trying.

* * *

 **iii. railroads**

More crossroads, many more. Left to Home, right to Duty. _Choose, Prince. Make your choice before you lose yourself inside of it. You are a ruler, choose your people, choose Rome._

Trains leaving and more coming. Each is an opportunity to grab onto the platform and swing himself in a direction instead of standing in the middle of nowhere, to release the pressure. He stands at the apex of the station, staring into the horizon, never having the courage to make that jump. To choose a path. To hop on to a train and go somewhere.

He does not want to jump, but if he stays immobile he will degrade even faster.

The wind rustles by and it swirls around his hands, around his body, creating a sort of impenetrable invisible armor. The wind blows in only one direction. Maybe this is an omen. Maybe. He isn't certain.

The breeze is full of whispers. Perhaps they are a message from Jupiter. _I love you, my son. Choose what you must, do what you must — but remember I love you._

It blows left. Jason Grace jumps into a train and he feels alright, at home, for the first time in his life.

* * *

 **iv. rebirth**

He'll make himself anew. Jason Grace, Praetor of Rome, Son of Jupiter, can die in the past — now he is Jason Grace, Head of Cabin One, brother to Huntress Thalia, Son of Zeus. Heir to the Heavens.

Now nobody bows to him when he walks to the mess hall, to the Aphrodite Cabin, to take a shower. He's one like any other — just a misfit who found his place. The Stolls trick him and Clovis falls asleep on him and Harvey tests his experiments on him and he finds it fun.

This, this is why he was never as great as Percy Jackson, why he will never be as great as Percy Jackson. Jason is orderly and strict, and he considers those in Camp Jupiter his soldiers. Percy considers them his friends. That is one great life lesson. Be your people. Live your people. You are your people.

 _Prince of the Sky._

Jason knows things, now.

* * *

 **v. lightning**

He is eighteen. He goes to college in New Rome, but he returns to Camp Half-Blood every summer, every weekend, whenever he can. The boundaries of travel are irrelevant whenever he needs to go home. And he often needs to go home.

There is electricity at his fingertips, sparks in his eyes, lightning in his heart. He wants it to go away but he has long accepted that it will never go away. Better to deal with it, now. Better to accept his family, his past, his father. His future. He will accept his future as long as it doesn't end in bloodshed. Jason Grace is done with bloodshed.

 _You cannot deny your past. Son of Rome, son of Caesar, son of Jupiter. Prince of the Sky. This is your inheritance._

He cannot deny his past but he can accept it. Take it all — the past, the present, the future. After all, half of his blood is gold and he is greedy and he wants it all.

There are two places in his heart. But he only belongs to one of them. And he will stay in one of them.


End file.
